A planet carrier of this kind is described in more detail in DE 195 34 791 A1. The wall section is usually embodied on the hub component of the planet carrier or on other components of the planet carrier on which an axial bearing in the form of an axial roller or needle bearing is supported. The lubricating oil feed carries and guides the lubricating oil radially outwards by centrifugal force. The lubricating oil thrown outwards backs up mainly in front of axially aligned openings at correspondingly hollow planet pins. The oil flows through the openings via the lubricating channels in the pin to the bearings of the planet wheels.
Because the openings of the hollow planets are usually axially aligned, these are barely accessible for the required relatively large amount of lubricating oil. Therefore, an oil retaining plate is provided against which the largest possible amount of lubricating oil impacts and that guides the oil flow radially outwards. The oil retaining plate then collects and backs up the oil radially inwards in front of the openings so that an adequate quantity of lubricating oil is present in front of the holes and this then reaches the planet bearings due to the pressure build-up.
DE 195 34 791 A1 describes an oil retaining disc in the form of an axial disc of the axial bearing. This oil retaining disc is located with the axial bearing on the planet carrier and furthermore overlaps the openings to the hollow planet pins. A guide section on the axial disc extends radially inwards to collect the oil and pass it radially outwards to the planet pins.
The axial disc of the lubricating oil feed or of the axial bearing according to DE 195 34 791 A1 lies partially at the back against a wall section of the planet carrier. Between the back sections of the axial disc that do not lie against the wall section and the end face of the planet pins, gaps are, according to DE 195 34 791 A1, formed between the axial disc and the axial opening of the respective planet pin. With the aid of the axial disc, oil is backed up in the gaps in front of the opening because the axial disc lies radially against the opening and against the gap forming a seal against the wall section of the planet carrier. The axial disc thus overlaps the planet pin and the lubrication openings.
An axial roller track on which the roller bodies of the axial bearing run is formed on the axial disc. At the points at which the gap between the pin and the axial disc is formed at the back of the axial disc the axial roller track is not adequately supported axially, particularly when the bearing is under heavy load.
When travelling radially from inside to outside, the oil is also supposed to flow through the axial bearing. However, in the lubricating oil feed according to DE 195 34 791 A1 a large part of the oil is retained by the guide section of the axial disc and is thus not available for lubrication of the axial bearing. Because of the conical shape of the guide section, the axial disc is relatively large and is expensive to manufacture.